Automatic car-brake.



Y y PATBNTED MAR. 1s, 19de. o. L.y soHULTz.

IAUTOMATIC CAR BRAKE. APPLIQ'ATION H LBD 00T. 30,1905.

UNITED STATES IPAIIENT oEEIoE.

CHARLES L. SCHULTZ, OE WHEELING, vWEST VIRGINIA.

' AUTOMATIC CAR-BRAKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led October 80, 1905. Serial No. 285,061.

T all whomjtmay concern.

Be it known thatI, CHARLES L. SoHULTz, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wheeling, in thev county of Ohio and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Car- Brakes; and I do declare the following to be'a p full, clear, andexact description of the invenH tion, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains .to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic car-brakes; and it consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and eiiicient brake mechanism for appear as the'na railway-cars and the like, which will be automatically applied by the inertia or momentum of the car.

The above and other objects, which will `ture of my invention is better understood, are accomplished by. means of the Aconstruction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 s an Inverted plan view of a car equipped with lmy improved brake mechanism. Fig. 2 is avertic'al lon itudinal sectional. view through the same. ig. 3 is a detail end elevation, and Fig. 4 is a detail view of the mechanism for locking the sliding draw- "bars against movement. v

Referring' to the drawings by numeral, 1`

denotes the framework of thek bottom of a railway-car or the like, which is mounted l upon the usual swinging four-wheeled trucks of the wheels 6. The mounting o 2. The latter, as shown, comprise centrallydisposed beams or bolsters 3, which are pivoted, as shown at 4, to bolsters 5 upon the underside of the frame 1. The supportingtruck wheels 6 are mounted upon axles 7, which have their ends mounted in suitable bearings provided upon longitudinal beams 8, which are secured upon the ends of the bolsters 3..

. In applying my improved automatic 'brake mechanism I suspend brake-beams 9 yupon each side of the beams' or bolsters 3 of the trucks. means of links 10 from bolsters 8 and carry at their outer ends the usual brake-shoes l1, which are adapted to engagethe eripheries IPtheF-beams These beams are suspended byv 9 is such that they hangA with their opposing inner faces in engagement with the opposite sides of` actuating cams or blocks 12 and .their brake-shoes 11 normally out of engagement with the said wheels. These cams or blocks 12 are preferably shaped as shown and pivotallymounted, as centers of the under sides of the bolsters 3, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 -of the drawings. These cams 12 are adapted to be simultaneously Aoperated by a lever 14, which is pivoted at its center, as at 15, upon thecenter of the under side of the frame 1, and is connected by links or rods 16 to said cams. These links 16 are pivoted or loosely connected to said levers or camsy uponthe opposite sides of at v`18, upon the their centers, as shown in Fig. 1. .The lever 14 is automatically operatedby the inertia or momentum of the cars through the medium ofthe coupling draw-bars 17, which are slidably mounted at the ends'of the car. -These draw-'bars 17 may have coupling-heads 18 of any well known or preferred form and construction at their outer ends, and their inner ends are mounted, asshown at 19, so that they slide longitudinally. Said inner ends 20`are adapted to actuate levers 21, which are pivoted intermediatel their ends, as at 22, upon the under side ofthe frame 1 and have one4 end disposed within the path of the inner ends ofthe draw-bars 17 and their opposite ends Vconnected to the outer end of the lever 14. by means of links or rods22, It will be seen that when the draw-bars 17 are moved inwardly, which movement is caused by the cars approachin each other in descending a hill or when the brakes on the engine are applied, their inner ends will actua-te I the levers 21., which ini turn will swing the lever 14'in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1 to swing the cams or blocks 12 and cause them to force the brake-beams 9 away from each other and their shoes 11 intofengagement Vwith the car-wheels 6.. When the draw-bars 17 are moved outwardly bythe pull of the engine, the brake-beams 9 will Vswing by gravityl to their normal position and the levers 14 and 21 will' also assume their normal positions.

In order to throw the brake mechanism out of operation, so that the train may be backed Without applying the brakes, I provide means for lock-ing the draw-bars 17 in theirprojectedposition. Thislockngmeans,

Ico y positely beveled or inclined faces 32, which as shown, consists of levers 25, which are pivl, otally mounted, as at 26, upon the ends of l the frame 1. These levers are adapted to have their inner ends 27 swing into and out of l the path of shoulders or enlargements 28 provided upon the upper faces of the outer portions of the draw-bars 17, so that when said levers 25 are in the paths of said shoulders the draw-bars will be prevented from moving inwardly, the outward movement of the draw-bars being limited by stop-pins provided at their inner ends 20 or by any other suitable means. The levers 25 may be operated by hand, but I preferably provide means for operating them automatically and simultaneously from the engine or front of the car. This means consists of slidably-inounted longitudinally-extending rods or links 30, which have their outer ends projecting beneaththe ends 81 f the levers 25 and formed with opare adapted to engage and actuate said levers. The rods 30 are actuated in one direction and are held in their normal positions, in which the ends 31 of the levers 25 are sup ported between the oppositely-beveled faces 32, and the ends 27 of said levers are held out of the paths of the shoulders 28, by means of coiled springs 33 which surround said rods 30 and are confined between the ends of the frame 1 and nuts or stops 34, provided upon the drawings. Said outer ends of the rods 30 are provided with bumpers 35, which are adapted to engage similar bumpers upon the ends of adjacent cars. The inner ends of the rods 3() are loosely connected to levers 36, each of which is pivoted at one of its ends, as at 37, upon the under side of the car-frame. The opposite ends of the levers 36 are loosely connected by a pin-and-slot connection 88, as

shown in Fig. 1, so that said levers will actuate each other. Any suitable mechanism may be provided upon the front car or locomotive for actuating the rods 30 upon said car or locomotive, so that their motion will be imparted to the rods 80 upon the remaining cars of the train in order to cause the levers 25 to be simultaneously. operated upon all ofthe cars of the train.l It will be seen that when the rods 30 are shifted one or the other of their beveled'faces 32 will elevate the ends 31 of the levers 25 to cause the ends 27 of the latter to engage the shoulders 28 on the sliding draw-bar 17, and hence prevent in- From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and operation of tne invention will be readily understood without requiring a more extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the prim ciple or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let- Y ters Patent, is-

1. In an automatic brake for cars or the like, tne combination with a frame and wheeled trucks thereon, of swinging brakebeams carrying shoes to engage the wheels of sliding draw-bars to hol them against move- `f ment.

i 2. In an automatic brake for railway-cars or the like, the combination with a frame and wheeled trucks mounted thereon, of brakebeams pivotally suspended from said trucks, brake-shoes u on said beams adapted to engage the whee s of said trucks, cams pivoted centrally between said brake beams and adapted to actuate the latter, a centrally-disposed lever pivoted at its center upon said frame, links connecting said lever and said cams, longitudinally-slidable draw-bars in said rods, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of- ',tne ends of said lever, levers pivoted upon said frame adjacent to said draw-bars and adapted to be actuated by the inner ends of the latter, links connecting the last-inentioned levers and said centrally-disposed lever, shoulders upon said draw-bars, levers pivoted upon the ends of said frame and adapted to be swung into and out of engagement with the shoulders of said draw-bars, and means for actuating said levers.

8. In an automatic brake for railway-cars or the like, the combination of a brake mechianism, sliding draw-bars for actuating the same, levers for locking said draw bars against movement, and sliding rods operatively connected at one end and having inclined faces at their opposite end adapted to actuate said levers.

4. In an automatic brake for railway-cars :or tne like, the combination of a brake mechanism, sliding draw-bars for actuating the same, levers for locking said draw bars fagainst movement, and sliding rods operatively connected at one end, springs for actuating said rods, and bumpers upon the outer ,ends of said rods.

5. In an automatic brake for railway-cars or the like, the combination of a brake mechanism, sliding draw-bars for actuating the same, levers for locking said draw bars against movement, a pair of levers pivotally mounted upon said frame at their outer ends IOO IIC

:and loosely connectedy vat their innerends,V I :Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set i sliding rods connected to said levers, and havvmy hand in presence oi two vsubscribing Witing at their outer ends oppositely-inclined nesses. faces adapted to actuate the first-mentioned CHARLES L. SOHULTZ. levers, springs for actuating said sliding rods, Witnesses:

vand bumpers upon the outerv ends of said slid- I-I. E. DUNLAP,

ing rods, substantially as described. v RoBT. F. DILWORTH. 

